Preparing for University: What do students want to know?

Date or reference

Preparing for University: What do Preparing for University: What do students want to know?students want to know?

An Exploration of Needs of Students entering Health Care Programmes

Leslie Robinson, Gilly Mehraban, Jackie Taylor, Sue Braid, Helen Matthews

Carena Eaton, Julie Evans, Lynn Geelan, Laurie Perrins, Roz Howard, Jen Earle

Aims and objectivesAims and objectives

Take evidence-based approach to pre-induction activities to support transition

1. Literature review: identify key requirements for pre-registration student support for diverse students

2. Question year one students to determine additional support mechanisms students might have found useful prior to attending University.

3. Recommendations for development of information and materials in appropriate format

Findings from literature

Reasons cited• Wrong choice of course• Financial• ‘Personal’ Davies & Elias (2003)• Socialisation• Accommodation (Trotter 2003)• Academic preparednesss (Yorke 1999)

Successful strategies• Improving admissions procedure• Providing pre-entry information (Martinez, 1997)

“very few problems that leavers face make it impossible for them to stay…. It is the perception of leavers that the

problems cannot be resolved” Mackie (1998)

MethodMethod

1. Literature review: attrition and retention

2. Questionnaires to all full-time first year students (~400) in week 0

3. Focus groups mixed representation week 0 and week 10– What were their concerns prior to attending?– Information/communication methods

AnalysisAnalysis

• Themes from qualitative interviews

• Triangulated with questionnaire data for generalisability

• Comparison with literature

Profile of students in the school and Profile of students in the school and representativeness of respondentsrepresentativeness of respondents

School (2002-2005)* Questionnaire returns

Black and minority ethnic (BME)

9.5% 15.6%

Disability 4.4% 7.6%

Gender (females) 69.5% 71%

Young (<21years) 60% 44%

Total 400 327 (82%)

* Figures for the actual cohort (2006) were not available at the time of the analysis. Figures presented therefore represent the mean of the previous four years. Trend analysis shows that these figures are fairly steady for all categories except ethnicity which is has gradually increased from 8% in 20002 to 12% in 2005.

Areas of investigationAreas of investigation

• Concerns– Finance– Academic work– Fitting in with home life– Accommodation– Cultural and religious needs– Making friends

• Information/communication– How – When– What – Who

Empirical data – concerns overallEmpirical data – concerns overall

1 No concern2 Little concern3 Neutral4 Some concerns5 Strong concerns

Empirical data specific concernsEmpirical data specific concerns

Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data

• Concerns: Finance– Most commonly cited concern– 28% students rated it as strong concern– NHS Bursary

• Complex administration

• Lack of guidance

• Inconsistent and untimely advice

– General, managing personal finance– Suggested solutions

• More specific guidance/guidelines

• Typical budget statement

• Availability of other sources of funding

“More bursary in

formatio

n as did

not receive fo

rms in

post”

Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data

• Concerns: Level of academic work– 2nd Highest scoring concern for all age

groups and both genders– Of increasing importance with age– Unsure what to expect– Unsure whether they were ‘up to it’– Pre-course reading suggested as a

solution/taster

“the workbook …gave me an idea of the work”

Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data

• Concerns: Fitting in with home life– 30-39 years of age scored more than ‘3’– Students wanted to know more about work

commitment and timetabling

“Semester timetable for booking cheap flights home”

Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data

• Concerns: Accommodation– Not a big concern due to student profile– Those in accommodation would prefer to

have input into who they would be sharing with

– Information on non-university accommodation and surrounding areas would be useful

Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data

• Concerns: Cultural and religious needs– Not a big concern due to student profile– Ethnic minority students were slightly more

concerned– Concerns scored less than neutral

Concerns regarding cultural and Concerns regarding cultural and religious needsreligious needs

Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data

• Concerns: Making friends– Not a great concern possibly due to student

cohort• Mature

• Student on ‘people-oriented’ programmes

Concerns by age groupConcerns by age group

Concerns by genderConcerns by gender

Concerns - summaryConcerns - summary

• Generally students report low concerns– Exceptions:

• finance and bursaries• level of academic work - disabled students are

slightly more concerned regarding academic preparedness.

• Little to differentiate students concerns in terms of age group and gender

• Concerns re religious and cultural needs come from non-white groups and the strength of score is 3 (neutral) or less (small numbers though)

• Low levels of concern re socialisation and accommodation

Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data

• Communication: How– Website preferred method but many would

appreciate hard copy information– Students reported friendliness of staff as

important (central admissions, programme admissions tutors, year tutors, administrative staff)

– Picture was one of inconsistency however

Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data

• Communication: When– Would have liked earlier information, especially

those going UF early in cycle– Some were bombarded with information– Some received little– Again, inconsistency

Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data

• Communication: What– Relevance was key

• Bank information and nightclubs not appreciated by mature students

– School-specific Information• CRB, occupational health, NHS bursaries

• Building layout

– Programme-specific information• Detailed timetables

• Pre-course reading

• Clinical placements

• Uniforms

“Most

of it not u

seful –

seemed

aimed at y

ounger people”

Findings empirical data

• Communication: Who– Central resources appreciated but wanted

to speak to people who knew about the course

– Requested school-specific help desk

SummarySummary

• Concurrence with literature– Finance– Level of study– Fitting in study with home life

• Conflict with literature– Socialisation– Accommodation

Cohort profile important in Cohort profile important in understanding the issuesunderstanding the issues

Implementing recommendations

Pre-induction package

• Available as soon as they become UF• Integration with UofS ‘isite’ induction site• Delivered via Blackboard - ‘programme level’ • User friendly (on-line instructions or face-to-face guidance

sessions)• Welcome Pod casts• Frequently asked questions• Specific Programme Information• Pre-course reading material• Location maps• Help line

Improving Admissions Procedure (Martinez 1997)

• What Admissions Tutors have done to address this– Out reach work started earlier– Taster days/workshops– Conferences for Careers Advisors – More Open days– Students need to have shadowed HCP– Route A6– Summer study skills workshops

Evaluating Success - Targets

• Current retention: 88.5% (first year students)

• Target 2008: 90%!

Next Steps

• Re-evaluation

• Development of cross-university working group to share practice